Resolutions to block Department of Labor rules allowing states to set up private-sector retirement savings programs were introduced Wednesday by two members of the House Education and the Workforce Committee.
The Department of Labor issued final rules on Aug. 25 granting states a safe harbor to set up payroll deduction individual retirement accounts for private-sector workers who do not have access to workplace retirement savings programs. On Dec. 19, the DOL issued similar final rules for cities and other large political subdivisions. The rules remove concern over being pre-empted by federal regulators by clarifying that such programs would not be covered by ERISA.
H.J. Res. 66, introduced by Rep. Tim Walberg, R-Mich., who chairs the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions, would remove the safe harbor for states, and H.J. Res. 67, introduced by committee member Rep. Francis Rooney, R-Fla., would block the rules for cities.
Both measures, called resolutions of disapproval, take advantage of the Congressional Review Act, which allows Congress to legally prevent a federal agency from implementing a rule or issuing a substantially similar rule without congressional authorization.
“Our nation faces difficult retirement challenges, but more government isn’t the solution,” Mr. Walberg said in a statement. Mr. Rooney, in the same statement, said the rules would force people into government-run plans with fewer protections and less control, and present employers with “a confusing patchwork of rules” that could result in fewer retirement plans being offered.
In a letter to House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., the ERISA Industry Committee, which represents large employers on benefits issues, said its members “are discouraged by recent proposals at the state and local level that unnecessarily disrupt active employer-sponsored retirement plans that are already in full compliance with federal law and regulations,” particularly those that operate across state lines.
“Rules that are too onerous or restrictive can chill an employer’s commitment to offer a retirement plan,” the ERIC letter said.
A vote on the joint resolutions has not been scheduled, but is expected to happen as early as next week.
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BY HAZEL BRADFORD | FEBRUARY 8, 2017 3:19 PM | UPDATED 4:47 PM
— Contact Hazel Bradford at [email protected] | @Bradford_PI